


Funny Faces

by Hashtagmavin



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Babysitting, M/M, Wal-Mart, first meeting AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-01
Updated: 2014-02-01
Packaged: 2018-01-10 20:31:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1164206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hashtagmavin/pseuds/Hashtagmavin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Having to go to Wal-Mart at 2AM is inconvenient. The cashier line taking forever is annoying. And a child crying uncontrollably in the arms of the man ahead of you is just plain excruciating.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Funny Faces

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted at Hashtagmavin.tumblr.com  
> Prompt: really goofy one shot mavin prompt - stuck in line at the same one register in walmart at 2am au

Gavin doesn’t necessarily  _like_ making trips to Wal-Mart so late at night. In fact, it’s almost ridiculous that he’s here in the first place.

Living with the Ramsey’s is never dull. He always has a good time and they treat him just like he’s part of their little family. And now that they’re only a few weeks away from having a baby, he’s somehow been roped into this ‘soon to be an older brother’ role, even though he technically has no blood relation to them at all.

But that’s doesn’t bother him. They’re his best friends, and he’s extremely happy for them. He’s there to help with all of the extra little things. Like painting the baby’s room, read all of the baby-name books, watch horrifyingly graphic videos of people giving birth (as much as it makes him want to vomit), and take care of Griffon if she ever requires assistance.

Which happens to be right now.

It was past midnight when Geoff came into his room with a panicked look on his face, spewing out words at a ridiculously fast pace. Gavin didn’t take it very seriously until he heard Griffon’s name. For a brief moment he thought that she might be having the baby and they’d have to take her to the hospital, but he knows Geoff would be freaking out a lot more if that were the case.

Turns out, Griffon really wants food. Or, as she’d put it, “ _Baby demands sweets. Go get chocolate._ ”

So that is basically the quick explanation of why Gavin is standing in the middle of Wal-Mart at 2AM, picking out chocolate for his heavily pregnant friend, while the father of said child lazily waits in the car outside.

When Geoff asked him to tag along, he didn’t think it meant he had to go into the store and pick out food alone. He doesn’t know what Griffon wants. He grabs a few bars and boxes of different varieties, hoping that  _maybe_ she’ll like something.

He’s never been all that good with guessing people’s tastes, especially when he can hardly figure out his own.

His phone buzzes and when he looks at it he sees that it’s Geoff texting him.

‘ _You got the goods?_ ’

He smirks at the message before responding with ‘ _Yes, going to the checkout now._ ’

Thank goodness for 24/7 Wal-Marts.

When he make sit to the checkout he almost lets out a groan when he sees how long the line is. It’s late at night, so of course they only have one cashier open. But seriously, who really needs to buy something at this time? In Gavin’s case it was practically an emergency, but he can’t imagine ever casually coming to the store this late to do some shopping. If he had his way he’d be sleeping right now.

He settles into the back of the line and decides not to worry about it. There’s nothing he can really do and complaining about this in his head isn’t going to make things go any faster. And judging by the argument happening at the register, he may be here for a few minutes.

He reaches up and rubs his eyes, trying to wipe the tired out of them. Before Geoff burst in and basically demanded that he tag along, he was still up playing video games.

A habit he’d been trying to break recently because he sometimes he would accidentally stay up all night. He’s smart enough to know that he should cherish getting sleep now because it may become a thing of the past when the baby finally arrives.

The person in front of him in line has a young child in their arms, and by the sound of it, she is not very pleased at all. He doesn’t blame the kid, who would want to be here when they could be in a warm bed?

Gavin’s never had any extreme opinions about children before. He neither hated or loved them. But he’s always been extremely good with kids. While growing up he’d always be the one forced into babysitting because all fo his infant relatives were so fond of him.

He believes it was just because his nose was fun to pull.

But before Griffon’s expectancy, he would have viewed this situation with annoyance. Standing in line behind a fussy child isn’t exactly anyone’s picnic, but you have to learn to make the best of your surroundings.

Besides, he still isn’t sure how prepared he is to have a very small baby around every second of the day.

The young girl can’t be any older than a year. Her thin brown hair is pulled up into a very messy ponytail and she has a pink pacifier in her mouth. The man holding her is doing his best to cradle her and murmur reassurances. She rests her head against his shoulder, almost as though she’s willing to entertain his idea of her falling asleep. Her open eyes show that she will be doing no such thing.

Her tear filled eyes eventually meet Gavin’s and she stares at him curiously, still slightly whining from her previous tantrum.

Without even hesitating, Gavin twists up his face, crosses his eyes, and sticks out his tongue. Making the most ridiculous expression in an attempt to amuse her. If he fails, then what does it really matter? Who’s going to see other than a tiny two year old?

He uncrosses his eyes when he hears a hum of happiness. Behind the pacifier he can see that she’s smiling. She’s actually entertained by him making a complete fool of himself in the middle of Wal-Mart.

Maybe he won’t be so bad at this baby thing as he’s thought.

Before she can lose interest and start crying again, he pulls another face. She gurgles with delights and shifts around, pleased to see such a silly boy putting on a show just for her.

This was something he used to do a lot when he was younger. Whenever he was forced to go to one of his younger relatives birthday parties, there would always be a baby, and he’d always make it his goal to make them laugh.

It was almost weird, but he’d get a sense of satisfaction when he’d hear the uncontrollable giggles coming from kids. And throughout his teenage years it really helped impress people he was interested in when he could make their younger sibling happy.

It’d been a while since he’s done it, and he didn’t think he’d need to for a long time. Maybe until Griffon and Geoff’s kid reaches this age. Parents probably wouldn’t think it was so amusing and cute to see an adult making make their child laugh as opposed to a young teenager. Especially if he’s a complete stranger. But he just feels bad for the parents holding the little girl. No amount of rocking was really going to cheer her up.

This continues for a few more seconds. Gavin takes it as a challenge to make an even weirder and obscure face after every time he checks her reaction. It’s always positive and her giggles get louder each time.

When he opens his eyes, after an expression that consisted of him scruncing up his face, he practically jumps out of his skin to see that the man holding the child has turned around and is facing him.

Gavin’s eyes widen and a blush warms his face. He immediately stands up straight, not wanting the guy to think he’s some kind of creepy trying to scare his daughter.

"Sorry," he murmurs quickly, almost expecting to be told off. Instead the guy just chuckles at his embarrassment. The young girl wasn’t the only one amused by his antics, even if he did only catch the last of the show.

"It’s cool, man," he says through snickers, "She seemed to really like it."

It’s only then that Gavin really takes in the guy’s appearance and acknowledges that that he’s fairly attractive. He’s very understanding of the fact that it’s 2AM and this guy is stuck in a Wal-Mart checkout line with a fussy baby, so it’s easy to dismiss the his disheveled clothes and the faint darkness under his eyes.

Gavin knows that he isn’t exactly picture perfect at the moment either. He couldn’t be bothered to actually change into jeans before leaving and instead just wore his flannel pajama bottoms. And then he matched with that is his bright orange Grifball shirt. He can’t even imagine how messy his hair must be.

"Yeah, well, cheering up fussy children at 2AM in Wal-Mart is my specialty," he jokes, and smiles down at the young girl who’s now squiggling around in the boy’s arms.

"You have kids?"

"No, just lots of nieces and nephews," he answers, "Is she yours?"

"Nah, my best friends. I’m stuck babysitting until she and her husband are back from their ‘ _baby break vacation_.’”

Gavin chuckles at the little girl when she begins reaching out for him, her chubby little fingers grip at the air and are desperate to reach him.

"I’m Michael, and this is Emily," he introduces, "I’d shake your hand, but mine are currently filled with squirmy baby at the moment."

"Gavin," he smiles, surprised at how unawkward and comfortable this conversation is actually playing out. "So, now that we’re well acquainted, and it seems we may he here for a little while," he gestures to the front of the line where the cashier is have problems with the machine, "What brings you two to Wal-Mart this late at night?"

"It’s only my third night taking care of her and I’ve somehow managed to break her DVD of  _The Wiggles on Tour,_  which is basically the only thing that calms her down and helps her fall asleep.”

Gavin raises a brow, “The Wiggles on Tour?”

Michael lets out a sigh and shakes the hand holding the DVD. He’s still holding the baby with it, s he can’t it off to pass it over. Gavin gets the hint and reaches out to take the DVD. It only takes a brief moment of looking at the cover for him to realize that he has no interest in seeing “The Wiggles” or any of their tours.

"And  _this_  is the only thing that helps her fall asleep?”

"Trust me, dude," he rolls his eyes, "I’ve tried everything. Every single cartoon or children’s movie I could find on Netflix. Apparently nothing compares to The Wiggles and their colorful shirts."

"Do they sing?"

"Yes."

Gavin smirks, “You poor sap.”

"Yeah, well, enough about my misfortunes. Why are you here?" Michael asks, and begins bouncing Emily in hopes that she’ll settle down a little more.

"I’m technically here on baby duty too. My friend is pregnant and craving chocolate. Sent both me and her husband out to get some. He forced me to come in alone while he probably naps out in the car."

"Ah, so soon you’ll be in the same boat as me."

"Yeah, but hopefully it’ll be more this," he says, and pulls a silly face at Emily which she laughs at loudly, "And less  _that_ ,” he finishes with a gesture to the DVD.

"For your sake, I’d hope so."

It’s almost weird how easy it is to talk to a stranger in such an odd situation. He’s made friends in a lot weirder ways, but it always makes for a funny story. And Michael’s funny and charming despite the fact that he’s obviously stressed and sleep deprived.

They’re stuck in line for the next few minutes, but spend the entire time talking and playfully bantering.

"You’ve swore in front of her?" Gavin asks, pretending to be shocked, "That’s not very good babysitting."

"The other day, when I was just over visiting, I got frustrated over something and yelled out ‘ _Swiss fucking cheese_ ' at the top of my lungs. Lindsay, Em's mom, both laugh until she cried and smacked me upside the head. Gave me a full lecture on why she does not want her daughter's first words to consist of ' _cheese_ ' or ' _fucking_.’”

Gavin laughs at the story, “Swiss is okay though?”

"I literally said that exact same thing and she just glared at me for the longest time. I am now determined to make Swiss her first word."

Michael’s eyes get so wide and expressive when he tells such a simple story, and when he smiles he gets these adorable dimples in his cheeks.

Gavin almost wants to smack himself for beginning to fancy a guy as they wait in line at Wal-Mart at 2AM, but he honestly can’t bring himself to care. Something about it is just so cute and innocent.

Besides, he’s always been fond of boys with tattoos.

Even as they’re getting checked out, they continue to talk like old friends catching up and laugh at each others dumb jokes or stories. They’re constant conversation seems to keep Emily amused although she doesn’t understand it and she no longer cries or fusses. Every few moments Gavin makes a silly face to entertain her in case she begins to get grumpy again.

He actually wishes that they’d gotten stuck in the line-up longer. The more they talk, the more he wants to say and listen.

"So, I guess this is where we part ways, huh?" Michael says as they make their way out of the door. As soon as they step outside, Gavin hears Geoff honking the car horn. He isn’t sure whether it’s to show where he’s parked or to tell him to hurry up, but he doesn’t worry about it anyways.

"Yeah, but this was pretty fun. I’m almost thankful I’d gotten dragged to Wal-Mart so late."

"I’d say me too, but this kid has been kicking my ass. I’d take sleep over just about anything right now."

Gavin laughs and reaches out to pat Emily’s head. She bounces a little and lets out a pleased hum at the attention. “How much longer are you taking care of her?”

"Two more days. I have no idea how I’m going to survive."

"Then how about we meet up tomorrow? Just so that you aren’t stuck dealing with her all alone for another day," he suggests, "We can meet at McDonald’s and grab lunch or something."

He doesn’t mean for every single place they meet to be the most cliched America stereotypes, but he’s just trying to offer a kid friendly place they could take Emily to eat.

Michael smiles at the thought but groan at the idea. “I’m not even a dad and I already have to have my dates at McDonald’s.”

He can’t help but grin at the very prospect of going on a date with Michael. “Would we really be considering it a date? We did only just meet ten minutes ago.”

"You’ve got a point," he considers for a few moments before saying, "How about this, we go to McDonald’s tomorrow. Hang out, get to know each other, and all that crap. But then once I’m free of baby duty, I’ll take you out on a real date. One that doesn’t include crying children."

Gavin tries not to smile or blush as he nods his head. “Deal.”

He has giddy giggles just thinking about it.


End file.
